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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Continues

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four games.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals playing almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.